Friday, February 16th, 2018

OILPRICE.COM – Friday, February 16, 2018 Oil prices continued to post modest gains at the end of the week, rising on the back of a falling dollar and comments from Saudi Arabia that bolstered confidence in the longevity of the OPEC cuts. The broader upswing in equity markets also helped crude benchmarks. Russia and Saudi Arabia sign LNG deal. Russia and Saudi Arabia signed several energy deals in Riyadh this week, committing more than $2 billion to join ventures, including an LNG project in Russia. Meanwhile, Russia says it will invest in Saudi Aramco’s upcomingRead More

BY DR JIMMY SPIRE SSENTONGO (THE OBSERVER) Some time ago, I wrote suggesting that, given our trying circumstances in Uganda, we need more alcohol and jokes to keep us going. It is difficult to be both sober and happy at the same time about what happens in the national affairs of this little country, except if you are in government or a proxy beneficiary. The other option, if one is to remain sober but happy, is to instruct their conscience to shut up and stop screaming incessantly. You know theRead More

Lawyer Wanyoto wanted over role in Shs 1.4bn extortion. Written by URN (THE OBSERVER) The Flying Squad is searching for city lawyer Paul Wanyoto suspected of planning the extortion of Shs 1.4 billion from two South Korean nationals who wanted to buy gold in Uganda. The two South Koreans, Park Seunghoon and Jang Shingu Un were looking for gold amounting to about $1.5 million. However, they were arrested from Acacia Mall in Kampala; where they were due to meet their lawyer Wanyoto of Web, Advocates & Solicitors. City lawyer PaulRead More

LONDON (Reuters) – Oxfam has agreed not to bid for any new funding from Britain’s government until London is satisfied the charity meets sufficient ethical standards, development minister Penny Mordaunt said on Friday. The Times newspaper reported last week that some Oxfam staff had paid for sex with prostitutes in Haiti after the country’s 2010 earthquake. Oxfam, one of the world’s biggest disaster relief charities, said an internal investigation in 2011 confirmed sexual misconduct occurred, and has apologized. Earlier on Friday Oxfam said it would create an independent commission toRead More

SPUTNIK – While looking into the mysterious death of a Finnish businessman in a Ugandan hotel room, which involved forged documents and drugs, the investigative reporter who broke the story was reportedly abducted by local security forces. The death of a 41-year Finnish arms dealer in a hotel room in Uganda’s capital Kampala has triggered a hot debate in the Nordic nation. Apart from the murky circumstances surrounding his death, which is being investigated as a murder in Finland, it raised concerns about “unethical” arms exports, as the man acted on behalf of Finland’s leading arms manufacturer, the daily newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet reported.Read More

SEATTLE TIMES – Highline College in Des Moines is on lockdown after a report of shooting on or near the campus. The school reported the lockdown in alerts to students and staff and in Facebook posts: “This is not a drill. Close doors, close windows. Police are responding to campus. Do not come to campus if you are on your way. More details to come.” Shortly after 10 a.m., South King Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Kevin Crossen said “at this time there are no known shooting victims.” “We’re goingRead More

CNBC – Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office said Friday that a grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections, during which they boosted the candidacy of Donald Trump. The indictment says that the defendants by early to mid-2016 were “supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump … and disparaging Hillary Clinton.” The indictment said “the organization,” known as the Internet Research Agency LLC, “sought, in part, to conduct what it called ‘information warfare against the United States ofRead More

By Travis Bradberry (THE LADDERS) – In Hans Christian Andersen’s fable The Red Shoes, a young girl longs for a pair of pretty red shoes. She ultimately tricks the blind woman who cares for her into buying her a pair. Her love for the red shoes causes her to give them priority over the more important things in her life, and, as often happens in fables, karma is not on her side. The shoes become firmly stuck to her feet and force her to dance non-stop, to the point where she almostRead More

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan is sending troops to ally Saudi Arabia on a “training and advise mission”, the military said, three years after it decided against sending soldiers to join the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. The exact role the troops will play was unclear, but a statement from the army’s press wing on Thursday stressed they “will not be employed outside” the kingdom. Pakistan’s retired army chief, General Raheel Sharif, commands the new Saudi-led Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism, though it was not immediately clear whether theRead More